Women have higher rates of mental disorders than men, NHS survey finds

Women are more likely to have mental health problems than men, with young women at particularly high risk, the biggest survey of mental health disorder and treatment in England has found. The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, conducted every seven years and based on interviews with a cross section of the general population aged 16 and over, found that one in six adults (17%) had a common mental disorder—one in five women (20.7%) and one in eight men (13.2%).1 Common mental disorders were classified as generalised anxiety disorder, depression (including mild, moderate, and severe), phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and non-specified disorder. The prevalence of mental health problems has been growing since the survey was first undertaken in 1993. That year …